Realization
by Rotashark
Summary: One-Shot. Giddon and Po return from a long trip to Estill. Bitterblue comes to realize her feelings for Giddon, but now she fears she might lose him.


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Bitterblue

* * *

Bitterblue was alarmed on morning when Hava burst into her chambers. Bitterblue worried, Hava never burst into rooms, she always snuck in.

"Hava, is there something wrong?"

"Prince Po has returned from Estill. I saw him in the courtyard only moments ago." Bitterblue brightened immediately at the news.

"And Giddon, has he returned as well?"

"Yes, but-"

That was all Bitterblue needed to hear before striding out into hall and walking as fast as she could in her dress and struggling to contain her emotions and remain dignified. She reached the courtyard, but to her dismay they were no longer there. She recognized Giddon's horse being led away by a stable hand.

"Do you know where Prince Po and has gone?" she asked, knowing that if she located Po, he would easily help her locate Giddon.

The boy, no more than twelve, looked startled at the sudden appearance of the Queen, and could only stare at her.

"Where has he gone?" she repeated.

The boy lost his dumbstruck look and answered, "I believe Lady Queen, that he-uh went to the infirmary." He paused, looked unsure and then added another "Lady Queen" to be on the safe side. However Bitterblue had already turned on her heal and started towards the infirmary. _Why would he go there? Surely Po would have come and seen her first. _Then she realized what should've been obvious. _Oh, Bitterblue how could you be so thick? He must be hurt! _

Decorum lost, she sprinted through the castle. Servants and members of the court jumped out of her way and their eyes followed her with expressions of mixed concern, alarm and confusion. Bitterblue didn't care. _Po are you alright? _She continuously projected worry through her thoughts. _Please be alright._

Finally, she had reached the door of the infirmary when a figure emerged from it blocking her path. She prepared to unleash her furry on whoever stood in her way, but found herself looking up at a familiar face.

"Po!" He hugged him breifly, relieved, before stepping back to study him, looking for signs of injury.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, grasping his forearms tightly and looking him in the eye trying to detect a lie.

"Beetle, I promise you I'm fine." Balls, he was too good of a liar. "I'm not lying to you Bitterblue."

"Then why are you here?" she asked feeling betrayed somehow. Worrying over her stupid cousin when it was obvious that he was fine.

"I'm not here for me." His tone scared her. It was so very serious and un-Po like. She looked under his arm into the infirmary.

"Then what in the name of Lienid are you doing here?" Suddenly she felt sick when she recognized the bloody and pale form in one of the beds.

"It's-"

"Giddon!" she screamed, trying to push past Po to get to him. "Giddon!"

She struggled against Po, but he picked her up under the arms and carried her down the hall. "Giddon! Giddon! Giddon!" She couldn't get the sight of his mangled body out of her mind. She was afraid, she couldn't remember ever being this afraid. "Let me go!" She spat out between sobs. She kicked out at his shins, and was planning to bite his hand.

"There's no need to bite me, Beetle." She screamed at him. "This will do." He said as he walked over to a door and opened it and threw Bitterblue inside. It was a medical supply closet. He closed the door behind him and stood in front of it. She rushed back at him preparing to...to do something. He grabbed both her arms easily and pinned them behing her back.

Her hair fell into her face and she spat it out. "Let me out or I'll-I'll claw your eyes out."

"Go ahead, a lot of good they do me." She screamed in frustration again. Why did he have to be so impossible?

"What are you going to do? Run in there and scream at Madlen? You won't be doing him any favors. You need to calm down. What would Giddon do if he saw you in this state. He'd have heart failure and die on the spot."

Bitterblue gave up the fight, she let her arms go limp and her knees sank to the ground. Po was right. She hated him for it, but he was right. She choked on sobs. Po knelt beside her, holding there as she cried and stroking her hair.

"There, there now Beetle, Madlen's the best. He'll be fine." Bitterblue knew he was only saying these things for her benefit, as well as for his own reassurance. Bitterblue remembered that Po was Giddon's friend too, and he had to be just as worried. After several minutes, she had recomposed herself.

Po recounted how it happened. "We were camping outside of the tunnel. I was asleep, and they snuck up on us. A dozen men sent by Thigpen to execute members of the council. Thanks to my sight we were able to take out quite a few, but one of them was a Graced swordsman. He got Giddon before I could get to him. I'll never know how he was able to fend him off that well considering... The man was already tired and injured by the time I faced him. I rushed Giddon here, knowing Madlen was the best chance he had." Bitterblue nodded numbly.

"How bad is he?"

"Bad. He'd already lost so much blood by the time we'd arrived here. He got a deep gash on his left shoulder, stabbed in his leg and a cut in his side that could be serious."

Why were her friends always getting hurt? Why Giddon? He was so kind hearted, and caring. He was more than a friend to her. He was...she didn't know.

"Can you tell how he is?"

"He's alive, Madlen stitching him up. The best thing we can do is wait."

Bitterblue didn't know how to feel. She didn't allow herself to think about the possibility of Giddon diying. They waited, cramped on the floor of the closet for what seemed like ages. She came up hard arithmetic problems to attempt to keep her mind off Giddon down the hall, but her failed to finish some because her thoughts kept circling back to him. Po sat inches from her, his head between his knees. He looked asleep, but she suspected that he was concentrating very hard on the room down the hall as well.

That sat in silence for what seemed like ages. Her thoughts about Giddon swirled, and festered. She replayed every conversation, and every moment she could remember with him. After ages, Po announced that it should be alright to go and see him now.

She nodded, and allowed Po to help her up and hold her hand they walked down the corridor. The entered the room, as Madlen was putting tools away in her bag. Po went over to talk to her, while Bitterblue settled herself in a chair next to Giddon. His wound had been freshly bandaged, but there was still grime on his face. She helped herself to a cloth and bucket and wiped the dirt away. His breathing was still far to shallow, but he didn't seem to be in any pain, for now.

Po came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Madlen says there's a good chance he'll live. I'm going to go try to catch some sleep. I'm confidant, he's in good hands." He smiled at her. "And I know whose face he'd rather see when he wakes up." He added teasingly. She smiled meekly back at him. "Someone also needs to let your advisors know where you are. I'll make sure they leave you alone."

"Thank you, Po."

She held Giddon's hand's and stroked his hair and face. She only wished she could see his eyes.

* * *

Her wish was granted a few hours later. She'd been dozing off in her chair when she heard a whisper. "Lady Queen?"

"Giddon?"

She opened her eyes to see Giddon gazing at her with his eyes that reminded her of hot cocoa. "Giddon!"

She placed one hand on the side of his face. "Oh, Giddon! I was so worried about you. I thought- I thought-"

She didn't want to mention what she thought. "-and I couldn't bear it because..." She swallowed hard, and couldn't deny it any longer. Sitting in the dark closet she'd realized it.

"You're crying." He brought his hand up and placed it on her face, wiping away her tears. She leaned into his palm, holding it there.

"...Because I love you."

She leaned over to kiss him, gently, afraid to hurt him. She started to pull away, nervous about how he would react, but with his uninjured arm he held her there, kissing her back.

"Bitterblue." He mumbled. She stopped kissing him and pulled away. "Bitterblue." She hadn't heard wrong. He had used her name and not her title. It sounded wonderful when he said it.

"I love you too."

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A/N: I love GiddonxBitterblue. I was cheering for them the whole time, but alas, it never happened. But maybe, if she writes another book they'll be together. Sorry if they're a little OOC in this scene

Anyway thanks so much for taking the time to read this, and I hope you'll let me know what you think about the story, the book, the pairing, penguins...I don't care, I just love hearing everyone's thoughts.

Leah


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